


from time to time

by thevaccines



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Almost Kiss, Angst, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluffy, Grinding, Highschool AU, I'm so bad with tags uGh, Jealousy, M/M, Minor Drug Use, Teenage Hormones, Very Minor, like only this once, maybe once more but who knows yet, more tags to come, to come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 00:31:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4543323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thevaccines/pseuds/thevaccines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Eren and Levi's first year of high school at Rose Academy. They've planned to stick together throughout the years, but sometimes things happen and plans don't follow through.</p><p>(no longer continuing this fic, sorry:(((()</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. butterflies in your stomach

**Author's Note:**

> this was just going to be a one-shot, but I've currently written a lot so i decided chapters would be better.  
> (also I'm just trying stuff out with those outfit things, idk if i'll continue them)  
> ANYWAYS!  
> hope you enjoy !!

Eren was mad. More than mad, actually. Completely furious. Behind him, he could see Levi rolling his eyes into the back of his head. He turned from the mirror, eyes darting around the room as he tries to look for other possible outfits that would be suitable for the first day of school.

"Seriously, dude- the first outfit you picked was fine, I don't understand why you ripped your room apart-"

"Because this is highschool, Levi, first impressions are everything."

"I'm literally [wearing](http://www.polyvore.com/levi_outfit/set?id=172692670) pair of skinnies and a Twenty One Pilots shirt. I wore this shirt to bed last night." Levi states, and then he lies back on Erens bed, grabbing his pillow subconsciously to cuddle with. He was nervous too, but Eren, Eren was a whole other story.

"Levi," Eren says with a sigh, "This is important for me." He says.

And without even looking, Levi can tell that Eren's brought out his puppy dog eyes, cheeks probably blushing as he bites his bottom lip. Levi groans, sitting up again and looking to find that exact expression on Eren's face. He knows him too well.

He humphs, then says, "[The](http://www.polyvore.com/eren_outfit/set?id=172692619) dark green jeans were nice with that red cardigan- I mean, it's still Fall, right? Might as well keep those earthy colours going while you can. Plus you had those black docs hiding somewhere in your closet?"

The second he was finished speaking, Eren launched himself at Levi, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you." He whispers, and Levi groans again, something he does often around Eren. But Eren knows its a loving thing.

Levi watches him undress for a few moments before turning away, lying back down on the bed as he waits.

They go downstairs together a few minutes later, greeting Erens parents and then leaving once Eren had grabbed his lunch, and also a kiss from both his parents for good luck. His younger sister, Mikasa, was still sleeping in her room, since she was still in elementary and didn't have to start getting ready for another hour.

As the two walked down the road, Levi avoiding more puddles than Eren since he was wearing new shoes, they silently agreed that waking up early for highschool was so not worth it.

The air still smelt like fresh rain and worms, and Eren knew Levi loved that scent, more than the scent of his pillows, which he knew Levi loved cuddling them for. That, or maybe he just liked how soft it was.

"Hey, Levi?" Eren stopped, and Levi stopped, turning to face him. He looked up the slightest at him, Eren down a little.

"Yeah?"

"We'll stick together, right? I mean, I know we already talked about this multiple times but its actually happening and-"

"Eren," Levi stops him, and Eren looks up at him, looking almost afraid of what hes going to say, "I promise I'm not leaving your side. Alright? We're brothers for life." He says, and then to get Eren to smile, laugh too, he puts his arm around him and ruffles his hair up, which elicits many giggles from Eren, Levi too.

On their arrival to highschool, they find they have the same homeroom together, which is English.

They head to the class, choosing desks beside each other and sitting as other students begin to pile in, some even coming after the morning bell had rung.

"Good morning, class. I welcome you to the marvellous Rose Academy. I am your teacher, Mr. Kirschtein, but you can just call me Mr. K, okay?" He says, his play on words making the class laugh, the tension and nerves relieved a little bit, "Look around where you sit, because this will be your permanent seating for the rest of the semester. Now I'm sure you're all excited to get your lockers and your schedules, so I'll be coming around with each in just a moment."

As he hands out everyones class schedules and locker assignments, Levi looks around the class, catching onto one of the conversations.

"Omg, Mr. K is so cute." One girl says.

"Yeah, but his son is a year older than us, did you see him? He's even cuter." The other replies.

"Theres some cute boys in our class too, like the one in the red and green over there." Another one whispers to the two, pointing over to Eren. They all look, and Levi looks away before they can see he's staring. He looks at Levi out of the corner of his eye, seeing him smiling and blushing slightly. If Levi heard that conversation, Eren definitely did too.

Does that mean Eren thinks the girls are cute too? Levi shifts uncomfortably in his seat, looking at the clock. Not even 10 minutes in and he wants to leave the classroom immediately. He grabs at his stomach, twisting his shirt as he feels nauseous all of a sudden too, breathing deeply as he feels his heart speeding in his chest.

"Levi Ackerman?" He looks up, startled, as Mr. K stands over him.

"Yes?"

"Here is your class schedule for the semester, and your locker is 1106, just down the hall on the left." He says, and then after a few moments of surveying Levi's expression, he asks, "Everything alright? You look a little pale."

Levi can see Eren looking at him out of the corner of his eye, too, and he swallows, a huge lump in his throat.

"Um, yeah, just nerves, I guess."

"Don't worry, it isn't as bad as it seems to be." Mr. K says, patting his shoulder before moving on to the kid behind him.

Eren leans over, "Levi, do you need to go to the nurse or something?"

"What? No." Levi says, a little annoyed, "I'm fine." He spits out, then sits up straight, grabbing his schedule and ignoring the looks Eren gives him.

"You just got butterflies, don't you?" Eren asks, and Levi sighs, shaking his head at Eren who just laughs quietly in response.

They don't have any classes together other than first period, so when its over, they split ways and promise to meet up after school. Thankfully, Eren's locker number is 1112, only 6 away from Levi's.

The day goes by fast. Eren enjoys his Science, Art, and Math class, he even joined some clubs at lunch, excited about everything he was doing and everyone he talked to, while Levi only enjoys one of them, Gym. Levi enjoyed English too, but not how he was feeling in first period. He met a few guys who seemed pretty cool, and he also met Jean, who's Mr. K's son. Levi didn't want to admit to himself that he found him cute as well.

When Levi closed his locker, he found Eren leaning against the one next to it, scaring him as he seemed to suddenly appear.

"Hey, how was your day?" He asks, a hopeful smile on his face, "You don't look as sick anymore, kinda sweaty, but I'm assuming thats from running laps?"

"It was good, and yeah, Coach actually thinks I'm a pretty fast runner. Told me I should come to football tryouts at the end of the week..What about you?"

"Thats awesome, Levi. And I met a ton of people today, joined some clubs, and even got some outfit tips." He laughs, "Theres one girl I met, Annie. She's super monotoned, but it hides her excitement for fashion, which is adorable."

'Adorable?' Levi thinks.

"Anyways, I'm super hungry, can we swing by your parents bakery quickly? I really want a cupcake."

"Your'e a cupcake." Levi says, and he doesn't even know why he says it, or what it even means, but Eren laughs anyways. Eren laughs at whatever Levi says usually.

They stumble down the steps of Rose Academy, making their way down the road and instead of turning into the subdivision, go to the bus stop. The bus ride is quiet, both of them staring off into space and thinking about completely different things.

When they get to the bakery, it's raining outside, so they hop off and run inside as fast as possible. They're greeted with the warm and cozy smell of coffee and fresh bread, and lots of different pastries and cookies. The Ackerman Bakery is well known throughout their town, and some people come from different towns just to have some of their homemade white hot chocolate, which is also Eren's favourite alongside the vanilla cupcakes with rainbow frosting.

The bakery is pretty busy, people looking at cakes in the displays, a group of old men sitting at a table, playing cards and drinking espressos.

"Good afternoon boys!" Kuchel, Levi's mother, greets them, and she goes around the counter to hug Levi, give him a kiss on the head, to which he groans at, then says, "How was your first day!"

"Great, actually. I signed up for a bunch of art clubs and Levi over here's got a foot in the door for being on the football team." Eren says, elbowing Levi a little, and Levi looks at him with a pained expression.

"What! Thats amazing! My little baby's gonna be a football star." She coos and hugs him again, Eren stifling a laugh at Levi.

"We just came for food, not for hugs." Levi says, and Eren and Kuchel laugh. She lets him go and tells the two to sit at their usual table by the window, closest to the kitchen so they can smell all the fresh sweets being made.

"Did you hear when Mr. K was talking about the group assignments? He said he didn't care if we always had the same partner, as long as we did good."

Levi shook his head. The only thing he could focus on this morning was trying not to puke up his toast and jam breakfast. He still didn't know why he was like that this morning.

"That means we can be partners for everything, all the play scenes and stuff- that'll be a relief knowing you're up there embarrassing yourself alongside me." He says, leaning foreword on his hand, elbow rested on the table. Levi, meanwhile, is seated back in his chair, hands in his lap as he just stares at the boy in front of him.

"If my dad comes by soon, don't say anything about the football thing, ok?"

"Why not?"

"Cause you know how he is, he loves anything sports and wants me to play everything and anything. He'll just make me nervous for tryouts."

Eren nods, "Sure. No problem."

They sit in silence, Eren feeling more awkward than ever. For some reason, it seems like Levi has put up some sort of wall between them, his eyes shadowed and hidden behind his mop of black hair.

"Whats wrong, Levi?" Eren asks, and Levi finally looks up, "You seem so...off." He says, wanting to say 'What are you not telling me? Why are you so distant from me? What did I do wrong?'

"Nothing, just a bit overwhelmed." He lies, and Eren seems to believe him, nodding in response.

"Alright my dears, here are your cupcakes and white hot chocolate, Eren, and for you, my son, black coffee and a slice of carrot cake."

"Thanks ma," Levi mutters, not having any sort of appetite, but knowing that Eren will continue to bug him if he doesn't at least take one bite of the damn cake. Plus, it smells really good, so he wants it in his mouth immediately.

After eating their sweets and finishing their drinks, they leave the bakery and take the bus back to their streets. Thankfully it stopped raining so the two don't have to sprint back home.

Levi walks Eren home, since his house is a few further down from his.

"Same time tomorrow? I mean, are we walking to school together again?" Eren asks once they stop outside his house.

"Yeah." Levi says, and then nods.

"Text me later, if you want?"

"I'll probably be too busy playing Fifa." Levi says, and then Eren grins, because that sounds a lot more like normal Levi than whatever that slumped and depressed version of Levi is.

"Fine then, I guess I'll just have to come over and play with you." He says, starting to walk backwards.

"Whatever floats your yacht, my friend." Levi says with a smile.

"I think it's whatever 'floats your boat'." Eren laughs as he says it.

"Yeah, but you seem like the type to own a yacht."

"In my dreams." Eren responds, and then without a reply, Levi just gives him small wave and begins to walk away towards his house. Eren stays outside, watching him until he disappears out of view.


	2. selfies and sketches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> winter is coming, they send some cute selfies and things get a little..heated..

The next day, same time, the sun is out. And Levi is thankful that Eren didn't drag him up to his room that day to choose an outfit. Though the sun is out, there is more of a chill in the air than yesterday, so the two of them have wrapped themselves in comfy sweaters and scarves. Eren was wearing a lavender coloured sweater, and Levi quietly adored how cute it was, and the fact that one of the best things about Eren was his pastel-coloured outfits during the winter season.

Walking closer to each other than usual, they both think it's just for warmth, but soon enough they have their arms linked together, shivering as they get to school.

"Winter is coming." Eren says, mocking a character from a TV show that he knows Levi loves. Levi looks at him, wide eyed with an excited smile.

"You watched like, three episodes with me. How do you even remember that?"

Eren shrugs, "Internet, I guess." He replies.

Levi has a smug smile on his face all the way to English, and Eren has to bite down on his cheek to keep from smiling so hard.

But Levi's smile disappears once they enter their English classroom, taking their seats.

Levi notices that the boy sitting behind him is from his gym class, Connor or something?...Connie.

"Hey dude," Levi says to him, "I didn't even realize we had this class together."

"Oh man, I'm sort of glad to see you. After those drills yesterday I need to know if your legs are killing just as much as mine are."

"I could barely even sit up this morning." Levi says, and the two erupt into laughter, "I hope you realize if we both do good at tryouts, it's going to be ten times harder."

"You're gonna make me sick, like Marco." Connie responds, and they are both smiling and laughing to themselves at the memory of the boy who got sick yesterday after running so much. Apparently, he was just super dehydrated. It's a good thing he didn't faint, at least.

Levi turns back to sit properly in his seat, looking over to Eren to see him staring over at Connie with what seems to be a...jealous expression? Angry almost? Envious? Levi stopped himself, knowing he was probably thinking too much into it.

The morning bell rings, and the rest of the students run into the class and take their seats.

Mr. K hands out their first reading assignments, which is the well-known shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet.

The books are tattered, some of them missing pages with little genitals written everywhere, but Eren and Levi both exchange looks of happiness. They always saw in movies that high school has crappy books for students to study from, but it was awesome to actually have one. Levi was flipping through when suddenly the book slid right out of the cover, and both the boys erupted into quiet fits of laughter.

Levi wasn't interested in the book at all, though, this was more of Eren's expertise. Eren was a full on artsy fartsy boy. Music, visual arts, and drama, though visual arts was his strongest suit. He'd drawn Levi quite a few times, and Levi kept the drawings taped to the walls of his bedroom.

"Alright, we won't be starting the play just yet- I'd like to go through some pages and explain to you how it'll be read then I have some handouts for you guys that you can work on later at home..." Levi stared at his teacher blankly, watching as his mouth moved but he just blurred him out. He heard something about the Elizabethan language and he had to stop himself from groaning in the middle of the lecture.

The class went by slow, and Levi, by the end of it, found himself yawning every 5 minutes, eyes drooping. But, when the bell rung, he shot up out of his seat along with some other students. Connie put a hand on his back when he was standing too, and said, "Ready to run some laps?" he asks, "Because after that lesson I really need something to wake me up."

Levi gives out a short laugh, nodding his head in agreement. He grabs his bag then looks to Eren, wanting to say goodbye. But Eren isn't there. He looks towards the door and spots his bright blue bag, full of buttons, clinking out of the room. He furrows his brows, confused at why he'd left so quickly.

Instead of worrying about it, he and Connie go towards the gym, get changed in the locker rooms, then meet everyone outside in the field. Everyone stands out in the field, huddling close to each other from the cold air. Minutes later they began running, warming up.

Eren sits in his science class, leaning his cheek on his hand and sitting more slumped than ever. Seeing the exchange between Connie and Levi had hurt him a bit, and he doesn't even know why. He shouldn't be upset, but he is.

"Hey, you ok?"

Eren looks over to his left, seeing the blond and blue eyed boy he'd met yesterday looking at him. His name is Armin, Eren remembers.

"Yeah, I don't think I got enough sleep last night."

"Don't worry, I get it. I still can't fall asleep till like 2 am because I was up all night during the summer." He replies.

"What are we even learning today?" Eren asks, looking up to see the teacher is on his computer, looking at it intensely as he has been for the last ten minutes, his large eyebrows furrowed together.

"More safety stuff I think, but I think our teacher may be a little...cracked out."

Eren starts laughing, and he has to cover his mouth when the teacher looks up, eyes wide and wild, which only makes Eren's cheeks turn red from holding his breath. He can see Armin laughing silently beside him.

Erens phone buzzes beside him, and he looks down to see a text from Levi. He can't help it when his hand starts to shake as he unlocks his phone to see the text.

It's a selfie of Levi and Connie, both shirtless, sweating, flexing, and doing the duck face. They're outside on the track still, and Levi has his hair pushed back, and Eren realizes he isn't really breathing. Along with the picture, Levi adds, 'Coach says we're the fastest in our class ;)'

"Hey, Armin, take a quick selfie with me."

"What? We're in the middle of class." He whispers back to Eren.

"Yeah but we aren't doing anything. C'mon, no one will notice." He says and then Armin just pouts, and Eren throws up the peace sign, sticking out his tongue and taking a picture as fast as possible before the teacher could see.

He sends the picture to Levi, adding, 'At least you guys aren't stuck in here.'

Levi sends back a few laughing emojis. Eren wanted to respond, wanted to text him whenever they couldn't talk, but they'd never been like that. So he put his phone down, and a few minutes later, the teacher put a video up of more safety things and Eren sighed.

The day ended up going by quickly after science ended, and Eren soon found himself leaning against Levi's locker, impatiently waiting for him. His bag was on the floor, stuffed with books from all his classes, and he still had to hold one of them in his arms. He was annoyed, and the longer he waited, the more the school emptied out, Eren started to think maybe Levi wasn't coming. They'd agreed to meet each other at their lockers after school, and to always walk home together.

Eren looked at his phone. It was a half hour since the final bell rung, and he'd already drawn a bunch of different doodles on his hand as he waited. Confused, and sort of upset at Levi for forgetting, he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He began to walk down the hall, and was almost at the exit of the school when he heard someone yelling down the hallway.

"Eren! Hold on!"

Eren turned to find Levi jogging down the hall towards him. Eren sighed again, tired and not wanting to deal with him right now. He wasn't all that upset at him, but he was. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay mad, though.

"Where've you been?" He asks, more curious then angry.

"I'm sorry, Coach made me come talk to him after school.. he really thinks I have a shot at taking over Jean's place on the team once he graduates..which is insane to even think about right now." Levi says, laughing slightly even though he was out of breath.

"Thats awesome Levi, really." Eren said, giving him a short smile, "But I'm really tired and I wanna go home to shower and start reading over my assignments..so.." He turns from him, and Levi grabs his shoulder.

"Dude, wait, I just gotta grab my bag from my locker..then if you're feeling up for it..come over later and we'll play Fifa? I unlocked some new characters." Levi asks, and Eren gives in.

"Fine, but you have to carry some of my books, ok?"

"Sure." Levi says, and Eren waits as he runs to his locker to grab his bag and runs back.

They walk home, leaves crunching under their feet as they both notice that winter is definitely coming. Eren collapses onto his bed the second he gets into his room, Levi following in behind him and putting his books on his desk. He has to move around a few stacks of paper, noticing that some are sketches of random people- one of them is of himself, and he looks at it for a few moments before taking it and slipping it into one of his own books.

"So, after dinner or something..just text me?" Levi asks.

Eren turns, propping himself up on his elbow and nods. "Yeah, I just wanna get some of my work done."

"Ok." Levi says, and then he watches as Eren falls back onto his bed and throws an arm over his eyes, spreading his legs across the bed and groaning.

"I'm so exhausted. Why am I so exhausted?"

Levi chuckles, "Try to get some beauty sleep before doing your work."

Eren smiles, his cheeks turning red slightly. "Beauty sleep, huh?" He says.

Levi laughs again, a little nervously and more forced, "Yeah, cause you're a princess."

"Does that make you my prince?" Eren says suddenly, feeling bold in the slightest, head turning to look at Levi. His little playful smirk makes Levi's stomach drop.

"In your dreams." Levi says nonchalantly, walking out of his room and quickly flipping off Eren. Eren's laughter follows Levi throughout the house until he closes the door behind him and begins his trek home, the biggest smile on his face, and he's glad neither of his parents are home yet to ask him why.

He impatiently waits all night for Eren to text him. He'd also been staring at the picture Eren drew of himself, which was something Eren never drew. It was beautiful, and looked like it belonged in a museum, even though it was only a sketch. Eren was looking in the mirror, frowning at himself, and there was a thought bubble over his head, the words inside scratched out. Levi could only make out a few letters, since it was clear that Eren had tried hard to erase and scribble over it multiple times. 'L' 'W' and 'H'. It looked like an old sketch too, not as good as the ones Eren can do now, and Levi couldn't help but overthink why it was on his desk.

It's almost 9:00 when Eren texts him, and it's not what he was expecting.

'Sorry, got caught up baking some cookies with Mik for her class.' it says, and attached to the text is a selfie of Eren and Mikasa. Mikasa has her hair in braids, and Eren has his messy hair tied to the top of his head with a pink scrunchie, curtesy of Mikasa of course. Their cheeks are pink and full of flour, Mikasa's hand is reaching across the counter to pull on Eren's cheek but he's smiling nonetheless. Levi quickly saves it to his phone.

'Pls bring some..in need of chocolate..and fifa so pls hurry.' he responds, and within seconds Eren replies with some thumbs up and cookies emojis.

Levi sighs, staring up at his bedroom ceiling, trying not to look at the time, since when he does it seems to go by slower than normal. Instead, he looks at the selfies he sent him today, zooming in on Eren and instinctively he feels his other hand at his thigh, slowly raking up towards his crotch. His eyes feel heavy, so he closes them, his mind playing games as he thinks about that day in this past summer, when him and Eren went to his aunt's cottage and went swimming, and he thought about how when Eren fell asleep in the sand and Levi had just stared at him for so long, his golden skin basking in the sun and still glistening from the water.

Levi's mouth felt dry, and he could feel himself becoming uncomfortable in his tight jeans.

The doorbell rings suddenly, Levi coming out of his trance, and he hears his mother letting Eren in, saying how sweet it was to bring a plate of cookies over. A few moments later, he hears Eren coming up the stairs.

He gets up quickly, realizing he has the most awkward boner and quickly runs into the washroom, grabbing a pair of tighter underwear and the baggiest sweatpants he has. He leaves his phone on his bed, and quickly grabs the sketch, throwing it under his bed.

He closes the door to his washroom just as the door to his bedroom opens.

"Just a sec!" He calls, changing and almost slipping on the cold tile floors. How did he even get in this position? Why was he even thinking about Eren that way?

"Ok." He hears Eren respond, and after he throws his jeans into his hamper and makes sure that no boner can be seen, he opens the door to find Eren sitting cross legged on his bed, the plate of cookies next to him. Eren looks up, a cookie in his mouth, looking confused. He's also got Levi's phone in his hand. Levi's eyes widen suddenly, realizing he hadn't exited out of the photos app and had been zooming in on Eren.

"Hey," Eren smiles, and he does a wave with his hand that Levi's phone is in. He looks and sees that Eren is on a game app, and his shoulders slump in relief.

"Hey." He replies, going to grab a cookie before going over to his playstation to start up Fifa.

Levi turns to give Eren a controller, then stops, realizing what exactly Eren is [wearing](http://www.polyvore.com/eren_outfit/set?id=173138140). He's wearing a pastel pink coloured crop top that said 'Baby' across it, with low waisted sweats, little pink and white stripped fluffy socks, and to add to it, his hair still has that scrunchie in it. Eren notices he's staring, and he quickly begins to blush. His cheeks still have some flour on them, obviously he hadn't bothered cleaning up much on his haste to get here. The urge to reach out and brush the flour off was strong, but Levi resisted. That would be weird to do, right? Well, maybe not as weird as almost jacking off to a picture of your bestfriend but-

"Oh, yeah, I didn't have any shirts, because they're all in the wash, and Mikasa gave me this one." He rambles, and then he puts his face in his hands, "Don't laugh."

Levi doesn't laugh, he doesn't even say anything. He's too afraid of what'll come out when he does say something. He just shrugs, sitting down on the floor with his back against his bed, and soon enough Eren joins him, bringing the cookies in between them.

The silence is soon filled with the two boys yelling at each other about the game, both closer to the screen. Eren isn't as good as Levi is at playing the game, and so Levi's usually yelling at him to do certain moves and not to just stop in the middle of the field and-

"Levi! You took the ball from me!"

"You're too slow!"

"But we're on the same team!"

"I wish we weren't!"

Suddenly the game is paused and Levi is tackled onto his back, making an 'oof' sound when he hits the floor. Eren straddling him and holding his arms back above his head.

"Take that back!" Eren says, and Levi's face goes expressionless as he does. Eren's chest is heaving up and down, and his body is pressed down ever so slightly so Levi can feel him breathing. Levi's legs come up, pushing Eren down even more closer.

"Never." Levi whispers, "What're you gonna do about it?" And its teasing, almost, because Eren's grip loosens completely and he begins to lean foreword.

Then quickly, Levi fights back, pushing Eren over and now flopping over him. Eren begins to laugh, and its contagious. Levi laughs as well.

When they stop laughing, Eren opens his eyes to find Levi staring at him intensely.

"Levi?" He asks after a minute of their staring contest, swallowing hard and Levi can feel that his tight undies are now working against him. One of Levi's hands travels down the side of Eren's neck, and he can feel Eren shuddering underneath him, and his hand continues to travel to the cut off of his shirt, his hand traveling underneath and Eren's body lifts, his mouth opening in the slightest as he lets out a breathy moan. Levi swallows hard, barely breathing.

Levi's hand continues to travel downward, one of his thighs moving so he has a better access to Eren's lower half. Levi is telling himself to stop, telling himself to move away and possibly ask Eren to leave kindly to avoid awkward conversations but his hand keeps moving and his breathing is so shallow and-

"Fuck, Levi-" Eren moans the second Levi's hand is on his crotch, his hips moving upward, his cheeks flushing a dark red, and Levi's eyes widen. They're both so hard- and Eren is pleading now, his breath short as he continues to whisper, barely audible, "Levi, Levi, please Levi." Eren's eyes are fixated on Levi's, and Levi can't look away, even when Eren closes his eyes because Levi grinds down in the slightest. It's so beautiful. Eren, looking this vulnerable and begging Levi for something- anything- Levi doesn't want it to stop.

He continues, feeling powerful over Eren now, and their faces are so close to each other now they can feel their breath against one another, noses brushing. Levi's hands are back to holding Eren down, his thighs moving upwards slowly and his hips beginning to roll down against Eren, who's writhing beneath him at the contact. His head drops to Eren's neck, his lips, wet from having licked them over a few times in anticipation, brush against Eren's soft skin there.

"Levi..I-" Eren, his hips moving up to meet Levi's, tries to get a word in.

"Eren.." Levi interrupts, and then Levi's bedroom door swings open, and Levi jumps off Eren, rushing away from him and lying on his front. Eren grabs the plate of cookies as he sits up, putting it on his lap to cover his erection.

Kuchel stands at the door, shocked, then says, "I just wanted to say your father and I are going to bed." She smiles slightly, and Levi keeps his head down, "Don't stay up too late."

"Goodnight Mrs. Ackerman." Eren says sweetly, smiling back at her. Once the door closes, Levi looks back at him. Eren's staring at the screen, eyes glazed over. He doesn't look at Levi, though, even when they start the game up and Levi steals the ball from him again.

They play in silence for awhile, and Eren leaves soon after, since it's almost 1 am and they do have school tomorrow. Levi offers to walk him home, but Eren refuses almost instantly, and thats that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked itttt ੯ूᵕू ໒꒱


	3. soft lips and forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helping clean at the bakery late at night, sleepless nights and 3 am phone calls.

The next few weeks fly by, and Levi and Eren had continued on like that night had never happened, though now when they walked to school they had a huge gap between them. They tried not to make it awkward. Tried to pretend there was nothing awkward between them at all.

Levi made it onto the football team, and they had a small party at the bakery in celebration.

Everyday had become a routine of sorts. They'd walk to school together, go to first period, then at the end of the day, Eren would wait for Levi at his locker. School ended around 2:30 and Levi would show up around 3:00. Eren would get some work done in that time, so he didn't really mind. Then they'd walk home together, and the next day it would start again.

When Halloween came, there had been a party. Eren had the cold, so he didn't go. Levi stayed home too, knowing he wouldn't feel comfortable going alone. Levi had suggested maybe they could get together and watch some horror movies, but Eren was too sick

Today, as Eren sat and waited at Levi's locker for him, he found himself drifting off as he listened to Mt. Washington by Local Natives, a song Levi introduced to him a while back. What felt like minutes later, he opened his eyes to find Levi just sitting down beside him. He pulled his headphones out, giving him a sheepish smile.

"Tired?" Levi asks, shoving his shoulder playfully. Eren realizes thats the first time they've made actual contact in so long. His shoulder feels tingly, it feels nice.

"I just napped." He said, "Whats up?"

"Mom texted and asked if we could come work tonight at the bakery, she said she just needs help cleaning and stuff, and since it's Friday-"

"Sure." Eren says, "I'll do my work tomorrow. Plus, we have to get together sometime soon to work on our Romeo and Juliet scene..figure out costumes and we totally have to have some kind of european accent." Eren says, his voice getting higher as he gets excited.

Levi rolls his eyes, "Fine, only because you let me choose the sword fighting scene."

"What other scene would we do?"

"I dunno." Levi says, turning from Eren, his hair flopping in front of his face to hide his small smile. An image flashed through Levi's mind of them doing the kissing scene. Thankfully, there was a couple who'd taken that scene quickly before he or Eren could even think of doing it as a possibility.

"C'mon, get your bag." Eren says, and they stand.

The bus ride to the bakery is quiet, and Eren finds himself drifting off again, head lolling back and forth as he tried to stay awake.

"Here," Levi said, and though he was shorter than Eren already, he shifted down more in his seat so Eren could rest his head on his shoulder. Eren didn't even hesitate, closing his eyes quickly.

Levi stared down at him, cheek on top of Eren's head and resisting the urge to put his hand on his thigh to pull him closer. He lets it be, trying to keep his eyes on the passing scenery outside the window instead of staring at Eren sleeping. This will be one of the first nights in a while that they've hung out. Eren's been hanging out often with some of his art club buddies, and between homework, football, and helping out at the bakery, Levi's been too busy to do much with Eren anyways.

They get to the bakery, saying hello to Kuchel and going to the back to put their things away and grab some aprons and cleaning supplies. She tells them to wipe down the tables and counters, clean the windows and also displays since they're usually chalked full of fingerprints.

They do as told, and when Eren is bent over the displays, Levi can't help but stare at him. He's been wiping the same spot on the table for five minutes, and when his eyes dart over to look at his mother, she's already looking at him, raising an eyebrow and smiling in the slightest before turning away to help an approaching customer.

They eat cake for dinner, then continue on helping Kuchel, now baking some things for tomorrow and cleaning out the stoves afterwords. There is a few coconut macaroons that don't fit into the goodie bag, and Levi and Eren eat them before Kuchel sees. 

"Boys, do you mind locking up? I'll take the trash out then wait in the parking lot." Kuchel says. It's 9, when the bakery usually shuts down on Friday nights, and the boys both nod.

They finish wiping all the counter tops, then Eren lets out a long breath, leaning against one of them.

"You ok?"

Eren nods, "Yeah, just tired still is all."

"Still? You even slept this morning in English. That's a total of three naps."

"Ok, whatever." Eren says, annoyed, and Levi chuckles at him. He walks over to him, grabbing his cleaning things and putting them away under the counter. He stands afterwords, leaning on the counter beside Eren. Once again, their shoulders are touching, but only because Eren is slouched down. He's been growing quickly, Levi not so much, and Levi's thankful Eren hasn't teased him about it yet.

Levi was about to say they should get going when Eren opens his eyes, looking at Levi intensely like he had that night.

"Levi?"

"Eren.." Levi says after sighing.

They both lean a little closer, then Eren whispers, "Can we talk? Please? I mean, we just haven't in so long." He says it quickly.

"About what?" Levi asks, and they're so close now they can feel each other's erratic breaths.

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"Levi I..I think I might..might be.." Eren seems vulnerable again, looking up at Levi in the slightest, his hair in front of his eyes.

Levi moves so he has Eren cornered, hands on the edge of the counters as he looks at him. Levi can't help it anymore. No matter how much he tells him he doesn't want it, he does it anyways. He pursues foreword, kissing him hard.

Eren is shocked by the sudden move, not even kissing him back until moments later when he just melts against him, their bodies squeezing against each other as they both let out little moans, taking that opportunity to intensify the kiss. Their tongues met, and short breaths escaped their mouths as their legs intertwined and Levi's hands were holding the back of Eren's neck, keeping him in place. Eren's arms were just caught in between their squished bodies, but his hands were in fists, wrapped in his shirt and pulling hard. Levi couldn't comprehend how soft Eren was everywhere- and his lips tasted like coconut and Levi felt like he was floating.

Levi was so caught up that he didn't even realize what was happening until he felt something hard against his thigh, and Eren whining slightly in his throat as Levi was now tightening his hand at the back of his neck.

Then he moved away, hand flying to his mouth and basically standing frozen in front of his friend. His best friend, whom he'd just kissed so passionately he didn't even think he had that in him.

Eren opens his eyes, and they've got tears in them, so they're even more greener and it makes Levi want to kiss him again. But he doesn't. He turns away from him quickly, taking off his apron. He looks over his shoulder, seeing for a brief second as Eren wipes at his eyes, then takes off his own apron. Levi bites at the inside of his cheek to keep from saying anything.

They walk out to Kuchel, both feeling shameful, even more than that night at Levi's house a few weeks back. That was whatever that was, but this..this was a kiss and a kiss can mean nothing or it can mean everything. Levi's mother doesn't say anything when they step into the car, both looking regretful and Levi even worse than Eren. Eren almost looks sedated.

Kuchel drops Eren off, and he says goodnight and climbs out. He looks over to Levi, who's looking down at his phone and he glances just in time to see the name 'Connie' pop up. His stomach twists and he slams the car door shut before going up to his room.

He doesn't sleep, barely leaves his room all weekend. He thinks about what Monday will bring, since he'll have to see Levi at some point and Eren won't let this go away.

When Monday comes, Eren feels sick and sluggish all morning. His mother asks whats wrong but he brushes her off. He goes to wait outside for Levi, and he waits and waits. When it's way past Levi's usual time for showing up, and he knows he'll end up being late if he doesn't start walking right then, he gives up waiting and leaves.

When he gets to English, he walks in to see Levi sitting in his seat, turned and talking to Connie. Eren's nails dig into his hands as he makes fists, and he's sure there is steam coming off his skin as he walks to his own desk.

He sits down, practically throwing his bag to the ground to make a loud noise, but Levi doesn't budge. Connie looks at him, giving him a quizzical expression, and it just infuriates him even more.

He sits down harshly, looking at Levi, boring holes into the back of his head- and finally, he turns around. He doesn't look at him right away, in fact, he sort of looks nervous as he turns.

"Levi, what the hell." Eren says, and Levi finally looks at him, his shoulders slumped and he slides down in his seat a little. Eren scoffs, and then gets his books out and pretends to be busy. If Levi wanted to be an ass, Eren could be one to him too.

He didn't even wait for him at his locker at the end of the day, just went home, did his work, and stayed in his room. He was planning on going to sleep as early as possible, wanting the day to just be over when his phone lit up. He looked over, realizing it was almost 3 am, and was ready for another night of no sleep when he realized it was Levi calling him.

"You gonna ignore me forever?" Levi asks the second Eren picks up. Eren rolls his eyes- this is just so typical of Levi.

"Thought that was your job."

"Eren.." He mutters, his breathing coming through the phone for a few seconds before he whispers, "I'm _sorry_."

"For?"

"Everything..I shouldn't have done what I did and I can't stand this silence between us so just..please?"

"Please what?" Eren practically spits back, sitting up. His blood feels like it's boiling inside of him.

"Forgive me? I'm trying my hardest here, bro."

"Yeah well..It isn't good enough. Goodnight, _bro_." Before he could process what to do next, he just hung up the phone. He didn't even realize he was crying till he blinked and the tears fell down the side of his cheeks. He wiped them away, not wanting to feel sorry for himself, though he already did. 

His phone lights up again, and its Levi, texting him this time.

_'I'm outside ur house'_   
_'Pls come out'_   
_':('_

Eren didn't want to respond, didn't want to even try to get up. His phone buzzed again, and he decided to go outside.

When he opened the front door and walked out onto the porch to find Levi standing at the bottom of the steps, cheeks red from the cold, he sighed. He really could never stay mad at him, not for anything. He closed the door behind himself, hands going into the pockets of his hoodie. He wished he would've thought this through a bit more, since he was wearing only his boxers under the huge hoodie he had on, and it was so cold out.

"Hey." Levi says, and Eren could feel his eyes raking up and down his body. He felt vulnerable, standing in front of him. Eren just gives him a small nod in response, and Levi groans loudly.

"Jesus fuck, Eren, I'm trying so hard here and you won't even say anything."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Say that you forgive me."

"For what?"

"The thing." Levi mumbles, and Eren shakes his head, feeling sorry for not only himself now, but Levi too. He turns to open the door and go back inside, but Levi stops him by saying, "Eren this is hard for me, ok? I've never done this sort of thing before..and I know we've seen movies about this kind of stuff but- this is so much bigger than that. I just need you to forgive me and we can move on and just forget about it...Both things." Levi adds in the last part quickly, his voice raising as he sounds more desperate.

Eren grips onto the door handle, wanting to just go inside and slam it behind him, but instead he turns, looks at Levi as he practically is begging for Eren to just agree to forget- and so, he does.

"Okay." Eren mumbles, and Levi hops up the stairs and hugs him seconds later. Maybe it wasn't the best time to be touching each other, but instead of overthinking it, they held each other close and so tight and neither of them let go for a while. Eren's head is resting on Levi's shoulder, and Levi's face is just pressed into Eren's chest. Levi's arms are tight around his waist and Eren's around his neck, his hands begging to be dragged through Levi's soft black hair- but he doesn't move, too scared to do anything bold like that.

"Theres a party coming up- for New Years, at Jean's house. Wanna come? I think it's gonna be pretty rad." Levi says, stepping back a little from Eren.

"Of course I wanna come- our first high school party!" Eren responds, excited already. Levi holds back a smile. Eren's eyes are sparkling more then the stars in the sky.

"Ok, well- I'll see you tomorrow morning, then?"

Eren nods, and Levi turns and leaves. Eren watches until he's out of sight, and then his whole body collapses against the door as he sighs, tears coming to his eyes again because- this is not how he had expected things to go.

Eren figured it out a long while ago. He doesn't remember the exact moment, but he knows still, that he loves Levi. He thinks it was possibly back in seventh grade, when he had started to sketch more often and did that one sketch of himself looking in the mirror- he doesn't remember if he threw it away or not, though.

More than anyone or anything and he just wants to be with him. He knows now, that Levi wants to be with him too- or at least Eren thinks he does. But that kiss- did it mean as much to Levi as it meant to Eren? All that desperation poured into that kiss must've meant something.

Eren watches his breath in the cold air and just wonders how much longer he can last pining for someone who may never even feel the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this isn't moving too fast for anyone- but i personally don't like stories that drag on everything, so *shrugs*


	4. fools playing by rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi go to Jean's house for the New Years Party. Eren meets someone new, and Levi's head hurts from thinking things too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title of this chapter is weird.. been listening to abba lots so *shrugs*  
> (but they are all a bunch of fools) 
> 
> ANYWAYS i hope you like this chap :) ♡

Christmas and New Years crept up on everybody, and before either of the boys knew it, it was already time for the New Years party. Their families had spent Christmas together at Eren's house, and they stayed up late watching horror movies that took place around christmas time (to at least keep the holiday spirit alive).They fell asleep on the couch in the basement, and when Levi woke up, he and Eren had somehow tangled themselves together when they were sleeping.

Memories came back from the night before, when the parents had all fallen asleep and Mikasa too, they'd snuck a bottle of whisky to the basement to share, and after playing a few drunken games of would-you-rather, they'd ended up kissing again. It wasn't as intense at their previous kiss had been, this one was soft and unknowing, Levi's hands barely touching Eren's cheeks. Levi ended up on top of Eren, but it was all still so sweet and delicate- and that's when Eren said it.

"I like you, Levi, a lot."

When Eren woke up, Levi kept on saying how he didn't remember anything from the night before, and how he never wanted to drink like that again. Eren agreed, and though the two remembered what happened, neither admitted it. They ate pancakes in silence, and then said they'd see each other soon for the party.

When the party did come, Eren and Levi were in Eren's room, Eren still fussing over an outfit and Levi lying on his bed.

"It's just a casual party, Eren, Jean said not to dress up." Levi said, his face down in Eren's pillow. Levi was just wearing his [default](http://www.polyvore.com/levis_new_years_party_outfit/set?id=174551876) plaid and black jeans, while Eren was moments away from tearing his room apart again.

"Ok but..it's still our first party- I wanna look nice."

Levi sat up, leaning back on his hands, "Well..How about just black skinnies with a..that pink crop top?" Levi suggests the last part quietly, really just wanting to see him in that shirt again.

"You mean Mikasa's shirt? I can't wear that in public." Eren laughs, but after putting on the skinny jeans, he found a light blue [sweater](http://www.polyvore.com/erens_new_years_party_outfit/set?id=174551843) and found it was good enough. He put on a white beanie as well with little ears attached. Levi thought it was cute as hell.Eren's mother, Carla, drove the boys to Jean's house, where the party was taking place. Eren didn't tell his mom there would be drinking and most likely other things, just that it was a get together and he may be sleeping over afterwards.

Jean's house lived off of the lake, and- it was huge. After his mother drove away, both Levi and Eren exchanged a look. They were nervous, excited, and weren't sure if they felt like throwing up just yet. They felt like they were in a movie.

"Well, ladies first, then?" Levi says, and motions for Eren to enter the house first. The front door had a sign on it, saying to come in, grab a drink, and stay in the left half of the house.

Eren rolls his eyes, but enters first, Levi letting out a small laugh as he enters behind him. They're greeted with loud music coming from down the hall, so they follow it.

"Acker-myman! Glad you could make it!" Jean comes up the second they enter the 'party' room, or so it had been stated it was by an arrow pointing to the door. His arm goes around Levi's shoulders, and he's clearly already had lots to drink. He turns and looks at Eren, eyes looking up and down a few times before he winks and turns back to Levi. Eren's cheeks go full red, "Anyways, there is drinks over there, if you want to smoke go outside and...thats about it, really." He says and then gives Levi's shoulder a squeeze before walking away.

Levi turns to Eren and says, "Sorry about him."

"I-I don't mind." Eren sputters, and Levi pretends to ignore Eren's flustered expression and pink cheeks.

"Want a drink?" Levi asks, the two making their way to the drinks table.

"Are you gonna have one?" Eren asks, and Levi nods, "Ok, sure."

Eren looks around, spotting a familier mop of blond hair and stands on his toes to see that Armin is here- along with a few other people he knows from art club. They're sitting on the couches, all of them seem to have a drink in their hand.

"Here. It's just spiced rum and coke." Levi says, getting back Eren's attention.

"Ooh, look at you, Levi the bartender." Connie comes up suddenly in between the two, and Levi rolls his eyes, but he smiles nonetheless.

"Im going to say hi to Armin..And Annie, Sasha.." Eren trails off, disappearing in the crowd, leaving Levi with Connie.

"So, Levi, is Eren your date for tonight?" Connie asks, leaning against the counter, a smirk growing on his face as Levi- about to take a sip from his drink- deadpans at his friend, cheeks going red. "You two gonna kiss at midnight?" Connie says, his voice turning babyish and he makes some smooching noises afterwords.

"I swear if I didn't want to drink this drink it would be poured over your head..and it's not like that, you of all people would know."

"Well, later we should test the fates." Connie wiggles his eyebrows, "I had originally said we should play spin the bottle, and Jean wasn't for it until Marco said he'd do it too. You gonna play? If you do, Eren probably will too."

Levi didn't want to think about it. What if it landed on Eren- he could not handle kissing him in front of everybody.

Levi downed his drink then, hoping it would hit him soon, so he could try and think about things other than Eren, and kissing Eren, and Eren in that stupid pink crop top- and Eren without that pink crop top on..or any clothes at all.

Before he knows it, he's on his fourth or fifth drink, he lost count, and is seated cross legged beside Connie, and Eren across from him. There's only a few people he recognizes from the football team, other then that, it's just a big group of random people. Eren seems to have been the only one to join the classic game of spin the bottle out of his group of art friends, and he looks nervous, but is staring at Levi over his plastic cup. Levi wonders how many drinks he's had by now.

The blood is pumping in Levi's ears to the beat of the music, as the first person, Marco, spins the bottle.

The rules are simple, whoever it lands on, the two have to be shoved into a closet for 7 timed minutes.

Marco gets up, following Jean to the closet, who looks more eager and awake than ever.

"I swear Jean rigged that one somehow." Bertolt, one of Jean's closest friends spoke up, making the group laugh in agreement. The time ticked by slowly, and soon, the two emerged from the closet, dazed and pink-cheeked, everyone teasing them about their appearances, but they only shrugged in response.

Connie's next, and it lands on a girl Levi recognizes the girl from his math class. He tries to remember her name, and only can remember it starts with an 'Y'.

Eren closes his eyes when Levi spins the bottle, not wanting to see who it lands on, if not himself.

The bottle spins slowly, and then, its about to land on Eren when it keeps turning in the slightest. Levi almost lets out a sigh of relief, but his stomach starts twisting into knots instead.

"Oh!" Connie yells suddenly, "Hmm..Levi and m'dear Petra.."

Eren looks up, Levi slowly standing from the circle as a girl next to Eren stands up. The bottle was just turned to the right in the slightest to point more towards her than Eren. Eren bites his lip, watching as Petra goes into the closet first, and Levi- Levi looks over at Eren just before he closes the door behind himself.

Eren doesn't realize he's got his jaw dropped until Connie is up in his face, hand coming to his chin to close his lips together.

"You alright?" Connie asks. Eren just stares at the closet, and he feels frustrated tears forming in his eyes, and he pushes Connie back, who tumbles backwards, obviously not balanced in the state he's in. He stays down, and Eren gets up, leaving his drink behind as he goes back over to Armin.

"Hey, what time are you leaving, again?" Eren asks.

"Soon, actually, my grandfather is going to be coming at 11:30, so we can watch fireworks together...it's a tradition."

"Could I maybe get a ride?" Eren asks quickly, desperate to get out of this house and this room. He feels like he's suffocating and he really can not handle it any longer.

"What about Levi?"Armin asks, and Eren lets out an angry huff.

"Whatever, never mind." Eren says as he makes his way out the closest door to him, which leads to the backyard, Armin calling after him but making no effort to follow.

"Wow, never would've pegged you as a smoker." Eren looked up, a guy standing by himself out in the cold, with a lit cigarette between his lips. At least, it looked like a cigarette.

"I'm not." Eren says, and then he tries to trudge off into the snow to brood, but the boy stops him, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling him back.

"You seem kinda upset..Want a hit?"

"I don't smoke." Eren states more clearly this time.

"This isn't a cigarette, it won't hurt." He takes it out from his lips, and holds it out for Eren to take. He smells the air around him, and it smells almost like skunk.

"Is it..?"

"Yeah, its a fucking joint, are you going to be a pussy about it or-"

Eren grabbed it, smoking from it quickly, and blowing it out just as fast. It didn't really have a taste, but it burned the second it went down his throat. He started to cough, and the boy shook his head a little.

"Not too fast. Also, hold it in, the longer you hold the better it is."

"The better what is?"

"The high," He says, giggling slightly, "Just, let it happen." He whispers it to him like its the most important thing he's ever going to hear.

Eren tried it again, and this time held it in for as long as he could before exhaling slowly, and the boy smiled before taking back the joint.

"Anyways, aren't you a freshman? How'd you even get here?"

"I've got a friend on the football team."

"Oh..Go Titans!" He says unenthusiastically, shaking a fist in the air before rolling his eyes, "All a bunch of pricks, that lot. I'm only here for free booze and weed, plus Jean's my cousin, so.."

"You look a lot older than him, do you go to Rose Academy?"

"No, I dropped out my last year, been living on my own ever since. This is my first Christmas back here in a long time. My uncle was kind enough to offer me some shelter for the time being, but I've got a job in Seattle that I'll be going to soon." He says before taking a long drag, and then passing it to Eren, who takes it from him eagerly. His first hit hadn't completely hit him yet, and he really wanted it too. The boy, or man, Eren should think, looked so relaxed and Eren just wanted to relax and forget about Levi.

"What do you do?" Eren asks as he gives the joint back to the man. He's not really interested in this man's life, but he needs something to keep his mind off Levi.

"Nothing big, I'm an artist of sorts, actually. It's a magazine company, and they need someone who's good with computer and graphic designs and they don't care about high school degrees and shit..It may be temporary but whatever, it's always been a hobby of mine to do that sort of stuff." He shrugs, "I take photos sometimes too, but only of things I like." He says, then gives Eren a quick wink, "What's your name, anyways?"

Before Eren can respond, the back door opens, and out comes the one and only Levi. His hair is disheveled, and he still looks red in the face. His seven minutes must've just ended, but Eren doesn't know why he came out here instead of spending the rest of his time with that girl.

He looks over, realizing he's being watched by both Eren and the older man.

"Eren," He breathes a sigh of relief, and he begins to walk towards him. Eren steps back quickly, not realizing how big of a step he took, feeling his body press back against the man behind him.

"I don't wanna talk to you."

"Eren don't be an ass, ok? It's not like I've got feelings for the girl."

"I said I don't wanna talk to you." Eren said more sternly, and hurt flashed across Levi's eyes. Eren's were stinging with tears, and he wasn't sure if what happened next was because he was high or a bit drunk or the mix of both- or if he was just really overall angry, but he quickly surged foreword and pushed him back in the snow, falling on top of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone is so ooc omg..but things are gonna be changing soon :) 
> 
> (and this chap is pre short..so i'll update it in a few days!!) 
> 
> ♡♡


	5. 'protect eren at all costs' club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi says some unforgivable things, and Annie and Armin really want to help.

They were both shivering, staring angrily at each other now. The backdoor opened and closed, and Eren was silently thankful that the mysterious man whom he'd never got the name of had left the two alone.

"Get off me!" Levi said, but this time, Eren wasn't going to let Levi win. He held his arms down when he tried to struggle out of his grip.

"You suck so much. After everything we've been through together- you go and do something like that and why? To hurt me? is that what you want? To push me away? Cause its working...Levi, I don't.." Eren was crying now, body numb from the coldness and Levi's was probably the same.

"As if it was my fault the bottle didn't land on _you_!" Levi yelled, his voice cracking slighty, emphasizing the 'you'.

"You don't even sound like you care!" Eren yells, "I'm just so angry that you went through with-"

The backdoor opened then, and he turned to see that a bunch of the football players had come outside, and a few other strangers, as they watched the two in anticipation of a fight. And also to probably defend Levi's honour if Eren was to throw a punch. He wouldn't though. He didn't want to hurt Levi.

"I'm angry too!" Levi yelled suddenly, and Eren's brows furrowed as he tried to contemplate what Levi would be mad about. But his mind was fuzzy, and he felt like he was gonna die right here, in the cold, on top of Levi.

Or, better yet, under him, since Levi had somehow flopped them over and was now hovering over Eren. Eren didn't even try to fight back anymore. He already felt defeated.

"You've got some fucking weird crush on me and it's freaking me the fuck out! I'm not the one who's pushing anyone away, you're just creeping me out! I was fine being friends with you but you keep making weird moves on me, you..you-"

Eren's eyes widened at his words, harsh and cruel and feeling like stabs to every part of his body. And- the one word he would've never expected to leave Levi's mouth, did just that.

"You homo." It was quiet, but it was audible, and Eren blinked in surprise and tears ran down the side of his cheeks, icy cold.

He heard the audience watching gasp. White noise buzzed in his ears, and he quickly found all the strength he had to push Levi off and stand up. His legs were weak and everything numb, staring down at the sorry-looking Levi stuck in the pile of snow.

Levi did remember, then. He remembered what happened that Christmas night, and Eren felt like puking. He held it back though, instead he wiped some snow off himself before saying,

"Screw you, Levi." And turning from him, the crowd looking like a confused drunken haze, Connie looking like he was about to burst into tears. Eren thought he probably looked the same. A hand came out and grabbed Eren, and he soon found it was Armin, pulling him into the warm house and throwing a fuzzy blanket around him.

"My grandfathers here, come on, I'll take you to my house, ok? Annie's coming to sleepover too, she doesn't wanna go home and have her Dad smell the alcohol. And, I doubt you want your parents to smell weed on you, so."

The drive to Armins house was quiet, Annie was cuddling with Eren in the backseat, who was frozen to the core, and Armin's grandfather kept turning the heat up to try and help him. Armin said he went outside to get some air and fell into the snow, his grandfather believing him and feeling sorry for Eren.

Eren didn't want anyone's pity though, he already felt useless and pathetic from Levi's words. Especially since Levi had said it in front of everyone- Eren figured his life was over now.

Once at Armins, he got changed into the biggest and warmest clothes Armin could find, and curled himself onto a blow up mattress. Annie slept in Armin's bed with him, leaving Eren alone.

He tried not to make too much noise as he cried, tried not to move too much either in an attempt to fall asleep. It was useless, and he kept checking his phone to see if there were texts from Levi, and when his phone died he cried until he fell asleep.

In the morning he woke up to Annie and Armin sitting on the blow up mattress on either side of him.

"Goodmorning. We've been talking." Armin says, giving him a reassuring smile.

"What?" Eren asks, half asleep and confused, he moves his head up, blinks a few times since his eyes feel heavy, dried tears made his eyes puffy, and his chest felt so twisted when he breathed.

"Eren." Annie whispers, and he looks up at her, eyes squinting from the light coming from the window behind her, "You can't let this make you weak, you understand? Though we've only known you a short time, you're stronger than he is, I could tell just by the way you were able to get out of the situation...responsibly. I just want to tell you that if you are..you know, gay, you aren't alone." She says, placing a hand over her heart, and giving him a small smile, "And we accept you, ok? _Fuck_ Levi and all his homophobic _bullshit_."

"Levi's gay too..or at least I think he is?" Eren says, a hand over his eyes, but neither of them seem surprised. He lets out a small wail sound, and feels a hand come to grab his arm and move it away from his face. It's Annie.

"There is such a thing as a homophobic gay person." She says matter-of-factly, "And it sucks that Levi is that, but he's got his own demons to deal with without making yours worse- so-" She puts his arm down then crosses her arms over her chest.

"So," Armin says, interrupting her, clapping his hands together lightly and Eren winces from the noise. "We've decided that for the rest of this semester and the ones to follow, we're going to be your protecters, ok? Anything Levi related is now a topic that can not be spoken about, heard about, or even thought about."

Eren looked at them both incredulously. Did they actually think that'd work? Levi's been a part of Eren's life for as long as he could remember. It wasn't going to be easy to forget.

"You guys sound insane. Are you still drunk?"

"No, and we're 110% serious. Sasha's on board too to be part of the 'protect Eren at all costs' club, and so is Ymir and Historia. They both accept you, Eren, and that's the kind of people you need." Annie says, and before Eren could even process anything or try to retort, Armin quickly stands and begins to pull him into a sitting position. Eren groans, his body feeling like lead but Armin doesn't let him lie back down.

"My grandfather went out to get some bacon, then we're gonna have some omelettes, sound good?"

"Oh, and take an advil too, you may feel a bit less hungover afterwords." Annie says.

Eren looks at them both. They look hopeful. His chest begins to feel a bit lighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry about how short this chap is, so i'll be posting the next one very soon  
> this is more like a filler for things to come (and things will be coming soon)
> 
> i hope you liked it though! ♡♡


	6. two falling sparks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's been trying to forget, and Levi is making that harder to do.

Forgetting about him was not easy. Everything reminded Eren of Levi- even his own pillowcase smelt like Levi. He loved it, but once he accidentally expressed this thought to Annie, she had him wash his sheets and everything else in his room until it was Levi scent-free. She even made him get rid of all his sketches of Levi or anything that reminded him of Levi that he drew. He didn't want to throw them out, so she put them in a box and taped it shut tightly, stuffing it under his bed.

"Hows this outfit?" Eren asks, turning from his mirror to Annie and Historia, who were seated on his bed. It was the first day back from Christmas break, and Eren needed help, once again, with an outfit.

"Adorable as always, Eren." Historia gives him a thumbs up. He's wearing white jeans with a low cut green sweatshirt, and he feels a warmth spread through his body as he smiles fondly at the two. They'd hung out everyday for the past week, Sasha and Armin coming sometimes, Ymir only once, but these two girls had taken to protecting him pretty seriously. They'd even slept over a few nights after Eren had come out to his parents, not yet Mikasa, and they both welcomed the two girls happily. Eren was thankful his parents didn't throw him to the curb, instead, his mother said she'd always known and his father said, 'You're still my son, and I still love you for who you are.'

When Levi had tried texting him to talk that one time while he was busy making lunch for the three of them, Annie and Historia sent him a selfie of them two sticking their middle fingers up at him, and then blocked his number. He still got numerous texts from the blocked number, but the girls deleted them before he could even glance. He was angry at first, but it was beginning to fade. He wanted to forgive Levi, wanted to see him, talk to him, agree to put this all in the past- but he knew he couldn't. After what Levi had called him, he knew he wouldn't be able to forgive him for it.

Historia, two years older than the two, drove them to school along with herself, and Eren felt sick when they passed Levi, who was walking slowly down the road. He caught a glimpse of his face, his eyes, stone cold and the bags under them darker than ever. His mouth was set into a frown, and his overall self looked defeated, almost.

Eren sat in his English class, the first one there since Historia liked to be early to get the art room ready, since she was always helping the art teacher set up for the younger kids, and Annie needed to go to the library. So, Eren sat quietly in his desk, keeping his head down as time went on and kids slowly began to fill in.

"Eren." He looked up when he heard his name being spoken, to find Connie looking down at him. He guessed Connie hadn't meant to say anything, since he looked scared a little when Eren looked up. Connie looked so sad, his eyes were tired and he seemed to want to say something else.

They stared for a few moments, then Eren looked back down to his notebook, shuffling further down in his seat. Connie moved away, sitting in his desk.

He could feel the air in the room change when Levi walked in, and held his breath as he sat down. Thankfully, he didn't say anything, not even to Connie.

"Goodmorning class, how was your Christmas break?" Mr. K enters the room, everyone sitting a little straighter as he gives the room a smile, "I'm sure it was a nice break, but, I did give you assignments over the Christmas break and I hope you've been working with your partners for your scene.." He says and the class is quiet, "Don't worry, for the next week I'll let you guys just get back into them, and next week we'll start presentations, sound good?"

Eren was frozen in his seat, not knowing what to do or say because Levi is his partner, and he sure as hell does not want to do anything with him ever again. They had yet to even practice the scene or decide on outfits or anything at all.

Once Mr. K dismissed the class and told them they could catch up for the period, Eren took out his earphones, not even turning on music but just pretending to look busy. He looked up a few times to find Connie talking to Levi, but Levi barely replied or looked like he was listening. He was staring off into space with that hard expression of his that Eren was fond of. Key word _was_ , Eren thinks, but it's Annie voice in his head.

There was no doubt in Eren's mind that he still loved him, and he missed him terribly. But as Annie had once said: Levi is toxic, to himself and definitely to Eren. Best to stay away.

Class ended and the day went by, and after school Eren went with Armin to the art club. Armin isn't in the art club, but he likes to hangout with all of them. He's a good addition too, since he likes to critique their work.

"Eren! How was your day?" Historia greeted him the second he walked in, opening her arms to hug him, but then realized she was covered in paint and it wouldn't be too good of an idea to hug him.

"It was ok." He responded and gave a half-hearted smile. It wasn't an ok day, though.

"Any he-who-shall-not-be-named incidents?" Annie says, her back to him. She's been working on a watercolour painting for quite some time.

"Oh-" Eren rolls his eyes, but he smiles fully now, throwing his bag onto one of the desks and pulling up a stool, "Levi isn't Voldemort- but no, nothing."

"Wow, I would've at least expected something from him." Annie says more to herself, but then she turns, her focus on Eren now instead, "Are you ok?"

"Why? Because we didn't talk at all?" Eren takes her silence as an agreement, "Yes," He says after a moment, then leans on his hands, frowning down at the wooden desks, different words and drawings carved into them and he feels empty, sort of. He traces one of the sketches absentmindedly, a heart with a bow through it.

He doesn't realize as he does, the group is staring at him, not believing him one bit that he isn't upset.

"I think I'm gonna go home early, I've got some things to type up and I promised Mikasa I'd help her with her science project." Eren lies, getting up.

"Want me to walk you?" Armin asks, and Eren shakes his head, grabbing his backpack and heading out the door without another word.

"We should bring some cookies to his house later." Historia suggests, looking to Annie, and she shakes her head.

"No, he needs space." Then she turns to her painting, and as she paints and Historia cleans the art supplies, Armin does his homework and Eren walks down the quiet hallways of the now empty school.

Eren walks slowly, feeling sluggish. He's put in his headphones, listening to a [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp6MUboaOqw) from a movie he'd watched with Mikasa awhile ago. It seemed to fit.

He walked past the gym, down the trophy hallway, and soon found himself in the hallway where his and Levi's lockers were. He kept his head down, his hand lifting slightly, fingers dragging across the locks. How'd he even get to be like this? He felt so empty, like everything he is doing and will do will never amount to anything- he felt so useless. He probably was.

He exited the school, the song ending, on the last guitar strum he looked up ever so slightly, seeing the familiar black hair and he freezes, hand still holding the door open. He pulls out his headphones, and lets the door close behind him.

He sees the boy sitting at the bottom of the school steps flinch slightly from the noise, then he turns, his eyes widening- in fear? Eren tries not to start crying or combust into flames. Or both simutainously.

"Eren?" Levi whispers, and he looks so grief-stricken now. Hearing his voice sounds foreign, but its so warming and Eren feels his heartbeat slowing down, he can feel himself getting red in the face from holding his breath this long.

"I.." Eren stops. He doesn't know what to say. He's been wanting to talk to him for so long now, it seems, but when he finally does get the chance to, he can't even seem to think- let alone breathe. Everything Annie had taught him on how to be brave and what to say if there was any 'you-know-who incidents' as she liked to call them, it was all a blur. All he could see was Levi, all he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears and he-

"I miss you." Levi says, and Eren just stares, open mouthed as he feels the tears threatening to spill at the corner of his eyes, "I miss you." He repeats, voice stronger this time. He stands up, then, putting his bag on. He walks up the few steps, still below Eren, but close enough that Eren could touch him without even reaching far. He wanted to, his hand begged him to. "Eren, when you're ready to talk to me, you know where I'll be. Anytime, any day..please. I know you probably don't and won't but..please." He dropped his head, turning from Eren and walking down the steps.

Eren stands there, his legs feeling like jello and once Levi has disappeared down the road, Eren collapses, hugging his jello legs to his chest and crying into them. Levi barely even said anything, Eren even less, and yet here Eren was, crying his heart out because Levi missed him. And Eren- fuck, he couldn't even describe how much he missed Levi, how much he needed Levi and wanted him and-

"Eren?!"

He turns in the slightest, Connie staring down at him, confused. Eren gets up quickly, grabbing his bag.

"Wait..what happened?" He's standing in the doorway, looking down at Eren. He sounded worried, and Eren felt sick all of a sudden. He doesn't respond, instead walks off towards his house. He hears Connie call his name again, but he continues walking. He puts his headphones in, and the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr-bQEMlN7M) it had shuffled to makes him tear up a bit.

Getting home, it was silent. He walked to the kitchen to find a note waiting for him on the counter, stating that his mother and father would be home late from work and that Mikasa was over at her friends house. He threw his bag on the floor, forgetting about his homework, and instead begins to eat all the food in his fridge.

He found himself a few minutes later, sitting at the couch with a bag of chips and a beautiful sandwich he'd made himself, watching a movie.

His phone buzzed, and he looked down to see it was a text from a blocked number. Levi.

"If you ever get a message from him, just delete it, it's easier that way." He could hear Annie's voice in his head as he unlocked his phone, clicking the message open.

'Connie said he saw you crying'

Eren rolled his eyes, biting his lip because he didn't want to start crying again. He didn't reply, and a few minutes later it buzzed again in his hand.

'It was because of me wasn't it?'  
'I don't want you to cry'  
'Because of me'  
'Ever'  
':('

He still didn't respond, because now he was crying, his body shaking and he closed his phone throwing it to the opposite end of the couch. He grabbed the fuzziest blanket they had and wrapped it tightly around himself, sobbing as he tried to focus on the movie. He couldn't even hear what the people on the screen were saying, all he could hear was the sound of his crying and he was so sick of it, but he couldn't stop either. The couple on the screen was dancing in the rain, and he let out a groan before turning it off, wiping at his eyes with the blanket.

His phone buzzed again, and the last thing he wanted to do was get up to check it, but he did anyways.

'Please talk to me'

It was so desperate, and the four words had Eren shaking even more then before. He wasn't crying as hard, now, he just stared at the screen. Minutes passed, and he ended up falling asleep on the couch for a small nap.

When he woke, it was almost 6, so he decided to shower.

Lying on his bed afterwords, towel wrapped around his hips, he stared down at his sketchbook. It was empty, save for a few random doodles, but he hadn't drawn anything in forever. His phone buzzed again, and it was his parents, saying they'd be home in an hour or so.

He began to draw absentmindedly, and before he knew what he was drawing, he had drawn Levi. Again. And again. About 10 different sketches of him. The one that stood out the most was the sketch he'd done of Levi, the same expression on his face from the New Years party.

He got up when he heard knocking at the door downstairs, quickly putting on a pair of sweatpants, and running down to answer it. He was sure it was his parents, but when he opened the door, he froze.

Standing at the bottom of the steps, looking prepared to run, Levi turns and looks up at-

"Eren."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the songs on erens phone make me so sad ugfh :(((
> 
> hope you all liked thisss and i hope its not moving too fast?? 
> 
> my tumblr is peachfawns (if anyone wants to know lol)


	7. simple as this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi's visit goes in a direction neither of them really expected...

Levi did not know what he was doing. He was home, doing some homework while his dad watched football with him, checking his phone to see if Eren had texted him, and before he knew it, he was standing on Eren's porch, hand raised to knock on the door. He'd snuck out once his dad fell asleep and his mother was reading upstairs, so neither of them would know.

He knew he shouldn't. He should walk away and just give Eren space for as long as he needed. What he did was so wrong on so many levels, and no matter how many stars he wished on to take it all back, he knew he couldn't. He felt so fucking stupid for saying what he did- and really, he's not sure why he said it in the first place.

No, thats wrong. He did know why.

Through the rest of the Christmas break, after the New Years party, he'd stayed in his room trying to contemplate how things will work out. Or if they ever will work out. So far, he didn't have a clue. He'd tried texting, but he never got responses. He even found himself standing outside Eren's house at very late hours (which he knows was probably creepy to do but he didn't know what else to do).

Levi knew his feelings for Eren were strong, but at the same time, he didn't like it. It weirded him out that now, when he looked at a picture of him on his phone, random thoughts would pop into his head and he would need to take a long cold shower afterwords. What he hated the most was his mother, constantly trying to pry things out of him. She mentioned Eren one morning at breakfast and Levi didn't talk to her for the next three days, even when she made him some pie and bought him a new video game. He was just annoyed, was all. At everyone- but most of all, himself. His father helped keep him occupied sometimes since they would watch some football videos together, and even went for a jog one morning, but his dad decided it was too cold out still to do it again.

Connie had come to hang out with him one day, and by the end of the night Levi had confided with him mostly everything that had happened. Connie proceeded to hit Levi a few times with the Xbox controller, and call him an idiot, until Levi practically yelled in agreement that he was, in fact, an idiot. He tried his best to give Levi advice on what to do, but he knew it was hopeless. What Levi did was unforgivable, and the only advice Connie gave that stuck was to keep his distance.

He knocked.

Levi waited a moment, heard no noise on the other side and he quickly turned, hands in his pockets as he began to run down the porch steps. He froze when the door creaked open. He turned to find Eren standing there, with no shirt and pants that hung so low on his hips- Levi realized he was staring open-mouthed at him and stopped.

"Eren." Levi breathed, his chest rising and falling quickly, "Eren." He said again as he rushed up the porch steps towards him, his legs moving without Levi's consent.

"Leave, now." Eren was about to slam the door closed, but Levi put his hand up, holding the door open. Eren practically growled at him, but Levi was still stronger, staring up at him, Eren staring down, both glaring.

"Can we please talk?"

"I have nothing to say to you." Eren said angrily, no longer resisting holding Levi out, "And I never want to see or hear from you again, got it? So stop texting me, leave me alone." His voice was shaky as he spoke, and it made Levi's insides turn.

"You don't mean that." Levi mutters, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Yes I fucking do. You're an asshole, Levi." Eren's crying now, but he's more frustrated than sad and Levi feels the tears beginning to prick at the corners of his eyes, "You suck. You suck so much and I- I fucking hate you!" He suddenly moved foreword and shoved Levi.

Levi stumbled a bit, surprised at the action.

"Fuck you! Fuck.You!" Eren stepped outside, continuing to shove Levi backwards. Levi grabbed his wrists before he could shove him a third time, holding him so he couldn't do anything.

"Eren." Levi whispers, shaking his head. Eren cries quietly, his chest moving erratically as he barely even breathes. He can't even think straight, he felt tingly all over the second Levi touched him and he hated it. (No, he didn't.)

Levi stepped a little closer, his forehead now touching Eren's, and he could feel his heart beating out of his chest from the nerves he had of being this close to him. He wanted Eren to stop crying every time he saw Levi, he wanted to hold Eren close and tell him that he's so sorry and repeat it until Eren believes him. He also wanted to run away as far as he could possibly go and never come back.

"I can't...Levi...I don't..." Eren says, and Levi shakes his head. Eren finally looks into his eyes, the grey colour of them making his heart soar and his head begin to swim.

"Its different this time. I promise." Levi says slowly. It's hard to say, because really, Levi doesn't know if its different. It has to be. Right?

Seconds later, his hands move to Eren's shirt, pulling Eren down in the slightest, kissing him hard. Eren kisses him back almost immediately, his hands moving to the back of Levi's neck, fingers raking through his soft black hair and tightening slightly. Its slow at first, feeling each other out, but within seconds it begins to get more rough- needy. They both need-want- this.

Levi walks them back and closes the door behind them once they're inside Eren's house.

"Anyone home?" Levi asks in between kissing Eren, Eren taking Levi's coat off in the process.

"No. Not for another hour." He replies back as he begins to lead Levi upstairs, to his room. Levi grabs his coat off the floor before following him up.

Eren's on his bed by the time Levi walks in, closing the door behind him. They stare at each other for a moment, silent, and Levi drops his coat. Eren's head is down, but when the coat hits the floor and makes a soft thud, he looks up. His hands are crossed over his lap, and he looks so small and nervous...and scared. He looks like he doesn't want to be here, and Levi hopes he doesn't look that way too.

Levi walks towards him slowly, and when he's standing over him, he realizes Eren is still crying. He raises a hand, wiping his tears with his thumb, Eren's eyes closing as he lets out a shaky breath and turns his face into Levi's hand. His hand comes up and takes Levi's hand away, intertwining their fingers. He lies back, Levi slowly climbing over him, keeping their hands locked together tight.

They stare at each other, Levi inching down until his lips graze against Eren's, who in response moans slightly, and Levi moves foreword the little bit more to kiss him fully. Their teeth knock a few times before their tongues meet, and Levi moans now, because Eren's free hand is tugging on his hair and his legs have moved to wrap around Levi.

Levi's arm moves to hold himself up a little, he's feeling weak (in a good way) but also feels powerful over Eren. He begins to rock his hips down lightly, Eren shaking at the little bit of friction, but he loves it too.

After a minute of doing this, he feels Eren whining low in his throat-they're both hard and the little bit of friction is not enough. Levi's hand unlocks from Eren's tight grip, Eren hand going to Levi's hair, and Levi's hand going in between them.

The room felt hotter seconds after Levi's hand had slowly begun to grope Eren through his sweats.

Their breath was cut short when Eren's phone began to ring, startling them both. Eren reached over to it to turn it off, but it was Annie. He had to answer or else she'd know something was up. He sat up halfway, Levi's face now closer to his crotch and he felt his face heat up as Levi's hands positioned themselves on his waist, his chin resting around Eren's pelvic region- and he looks so cute, like a kitten, that Eren's mouth goes dry.

"H-hello?" Eren answered, voice strained slightly. He cleared his throat, looking away from Levi's stare. Annie didn't reply for a moment.

"Eren? Are you crying?"

"What?" Eren says incredulously, laughing a little nervously. He looked over at Levi, who looked annoyed at the cock block of a phone call, "Um..why'd you call?"

"Just checking up on you, Eren." She says, then, "I also went out for a walk with my cousin and ended up on your street- can we come over or are you busy?"

Levi must've heard Annie's request over the phone, because he squeezed Eren's hip slightly, and when Eren looked at him he mouthed 'busy' and looked very, very serious about it. It was cute- he looked like an angry kitten now. Eren moved a hand to poke Levi's cheek, and Levi rolled his eyes.

Eren smiled, refraining from giggling, then said, "No, not busy. When will you be here?" He ran his hand through Levi's hair absentmindedly and Levi leaned into it a little.

"Uh...maybe 10 minutes or less?"

"Sounds good..and the front door will be open, so just let yourselves in and come up." He hung up after she said goodbye. He threw his phone on the side table and looked at Levi, smirking slightly.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" Levi asks, and Eren just shrugs.

"Now we just gotta be quick." He whispers as Levi shifts upwards to be more in their previous position.

"Eren-" Levi sounded upset, but Eren cut him off with a mock moan as his hands went under Levi's shirt, scratching upwards and feeling Levi quiver above him slightly. He smiled, and Levi still looked slightly annoyed, though he wasn't resisting Eren's hands running up and down his back.

"Levi." He said in a breathy tone, and Levi's eyes became a shade darker before he began to kiss Eren again. It was like the time at the bakery now, passionate and hungry and Levi was not going to hold back.

Levi moved to bite on Eren's neck, sucking and then licking the skin and Eren's eyes squeeze shut in the process, his fingers tangled in Levi's hair.

Levi's hand travels down Eren's chest, his hand groping Eren's clothed cock slightly, Eren's moans getting louder as Levi's hand goes underneath his sweatpants, stroking him slowly. Eren's hand goes to do the same to Levi, and as they moan and breathe into each others mouths, Eren tries his best to keep his eyes on Levi's.

"Levi I-I'm-" Eren's words are cut short as Levi's hand squeezes slightly, and he moves to kiss Eren again, pushing his tongue into his mouth and Eren doesn't resist. His hips thrust upwards as he gets closer, and Levi begins to suck another hickey on his neck and Eren comes seconds later, moaning loudly Levi's name, which makes Levi come almost simultaneously.

They lie tangled together, hands sticky, bodies sweaty, and their breathing slowing down. Eren's arms are around Levi, hugging him tightly, and Levi's head is down in the crook of Eren's neck. Levi doesn't want to move. He feels euphoric right now, and thinks he would be perfectly fine if the sun just happened to swallow up the world right now- because dying in Eren's arm's would definitely be the best way to go. He turns his head slightly, kissing the hickey on Eren's neck which is now more visible and he feels Eren's leg twitch a little at the contact.

"Levi?" Eren whispers, staring up at the ceiling, the moonlight casting shadows across it and it makes him feel weird. Levi hums slightly in response. He looks so delicate lying across Eren like this. Eren's hand is under Levi's shirt, his cold fingertips running up and down Levi's spine and Levi looks half asleep now. He wonders if Levi's thinking the same things he is over and over and over again.

"Levi I...I lov-"

"I think I heard the front door opening." Levi pushed himself off of Eren so quickly it made Eren dizzy slightly.

"What?"

"Annie- remember? _You_ invited her over." Levi said. He tried to sound like he was upset or annoyed about it, but the only thing he could really feel was this sense of relief. He just hoped Eren couldn't tell- but fuck, it was Eren, he most likely could tell.

"Oh-" Eren was sitting up now, watching Levi put his coat back on after grabbing a few tissues and wiping his hand clean. He threw the tissue box at Eren and pointed to his chest to clean it, and went to the bedroom door. He opened it slightly, seeing two girls walking up the stairs and he cursed silently in his mind. Eren watched in amusement, cause there was no other way to watch, as Levi opened Eren's window and climbed out, his cute and small body having trouble getting out onto the roof and trying to close the window, since the roof was slanted and the window was now higher up. But he managed, and Eren grabbed a hoodie on as Levi closed the window and the bedroom door swung open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooohhhoooo eren what were you gonna say to levi ;________;  
> (i hope you liked it !!)


	8. can't help falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cutesy boyfriend-kind-of-not-really-because-things-arent-offical (and will they ever be?) things and Connie gets upset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that description tho lmao (its late and I'm exhausted, i hope this chapter is ok)
> 
> ♡♡

"Hi! I'm Hanji- Annie's cousin. I'm sorry if we're intruding in any way."

Eren smiles at the frizzy-haired girl, shaking his head, "Not at all, I'm Eren." His hand moves up subconsciously to his neck, making sure it's covered. If Annie saw the hickey, she'd probably go after Levi tonight and rip him into little shreds.

"Aw, you're so sweet- I could just eat you up." She replies, and Annie laughs a little before going back to her usual stone-cold demeanour.

He glances over to the window, noticing that Levi's gone and he hopes he got down ok. He wants to laugh at the thought of Levi possibly hanging upside down with his pant leg caught on the roof. He gets up, going over to his window to pretend to close the curtains, and is happy to see no signs of Levi anywhere (except for the footprints in the snow). He closes the curtains, then turns back to the two girls.

"She's visiting from school." Annie explains, sitting on Eren's beanbag chair, which he bought over the holidays during the Black Friday sales. That was the day his mom tried to make Eren tell Mikasa he was gay- but he really isn't ready to tell her that yet. She's young still, she may feel embarrassed of him. He doesn't want that. Eren needs to figure out more important things in his life before he can be comfortable with his sexuallity and everything that comes with it.

Annie and Hanji stay late, and they watch some Netflix before hugging Eren goodbye. He also told Annie he wanted to walk to school tomorrow, and not to question him about it- he just wanted to have some alone time before school. She believed him. She also hugged him a little longer than usual.

In the morning, Eren had somehow discarded the sweater while he was sleeping, and when he looked in the mirror, he was scared at the sight of the two purple and pink bruise-like spots on his neck, until he remember what happened. And with who. He was giddy the rest of the morning, wearing a big [sweater](http://www.polyvore.com/eren_outfit/set?id=176572018) and an even bigger scarf to cover the hickeys. Eren had got his hopes up a little, hoping that Levi would be waiting to walk to school with him. He had butterflies in his stomach as he waited outside in his front lawn, but as time went on the butterflies started feeling sickening. Eren gave up and began to walk to school alone, cold, and very disappointed.

He walked down the short cut to school through the forest, noticing that the snow is melting and the previous fall leaves being unearthed. He wasn't expecting a hand to practically grab the back of his neck and spin him around, though. He put his arms up in front of his face, defending himself, when he heard a small chuckle.

"Hey." Levi says nonchalantly, cracking a smile. Eren sputtered on his words, looking at Levi in disbelief. His heart was racing, and not from being startled, but from Levi. Was he waiting for him? But why here? He was brought out of his thoughts by Levi's laughing; His eyes were crinkled at the corners, and he was staring at Eren, eyes shining.

"Don't laugh! You scared me you shit-" Eren says, and despite his words he smiles. He punches Levi on the arm, and Levi is quick to punch back. They step closer to each other, giggling as they slapped each others hands way, and then they're kissing.

Eren's eyes flutter closed, Levi's hands holding his biceps. It's a sweeter kiss than they're used to, mouths separating only slightly. He opens his eyes when Levi pulls away. One of Levi's hands goes down the side of his arm, making Eren feel tingly, and then intertwining their fingers.

"We're gonna be late, c'mon." Levi says, and Eren's only response is squeezing Levi's hand before they walk the rest of the way to school. He feels entranced, listening to Levi talk about some swimming anime, and he watches him. Its adorable when Levi looks up to make sure Eren's listening, and it makes Eren's heart clench as Levi climbs the rocks narrowing the pathway, smirking down at Eren as he holds his hand to balance himself.

Once at school, Levi pulled his hand away, but Eren didn't think much of it. He could understand if Levi didn't want to be seen holding hands with him yet, Eren also didn't want that. He would need to explain some things to Annie and the rest before they could possibly tell everyone they were-

Eren froze, halfway up the steps to the doors, and Levi turns once he's at the landing, "What?" he asks.

'What are we?' is what Eren wanted to say, but instead, he said, "I just..I...we should go the bakery after school, maybe? I've been missing those cupcakes."

Levi shakes his head, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, but you're a dork for making us stop halfway just to tell me you want cupcakes."

"Thats not all I want, Levi." Eren says, but only quietly enough for Levi to hear. He continues on his way then, Levi's cheeks burning red as he follows into the school behind him.

The rest of the week goes by in a blur. They ended up hanging out only the once after school for cupcakes, and also to discuss their play scene, and then Eren told Levi that he would need to hang out with his friends or else they'd be upset. Levi understood, he had football practice to get to anyways. Oh, and they also made out again until it was late at night and Eren had to get home if he wanted to get any sleep before the next day of school.

Levi hadn't talked to Connie since the other day when Connie had told him he saw Eren crying, so when Levi showed up on time for practice at the end of the day, Connie practically threw himself into Levi's arms to hug him.

"Dude! Where've you been? The whole team has been missing you." Connie said before slapping him twice on the back lightly. They made their way into the locker rooms, Levi putting his things away and beginning to get changed.

"Sick." He replied dryly, and Connie quirked his lips and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You talk to Eren at all?"

"Why?" Levi tried to stop himself from smiling, but it happened anyways, and Connie gave him one back.

"Well, you just look happy is all- for once." He jabs the last part in, turning from Levi as he goes to tie his shoes on tighter.

Levi didn't reply. He felt happy for sure, looked it too apparently, so why did he feel so heavy? Was that even the right way to put it? He felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and he couldn't move- he was suffocating underneath the weight and couldn't do anything about it.

"Come on, Coach said we're gonna be running laps around the gym today and learning a few more plays."

Levi nods, following Connie out. It felt good to run, to have that burning sensation and to just focus on not collapsing at every corner he had to turn. He was running past the gym door, when he glanced out the small window and found Eren staring back. He almost tripped- caught himself just in time.

"Can I go get some water?" Levi asks the Coach, and he mumbles an agreement, eyes on the senior boys as they did their drills. 

Levi looks over to them for a moment, and he feels himself getting nervous about what his coach had told him awhile back. How someday he could be in Jean's place, and he doesn't know if he can handle it. He can't really even handle _life_ right now, let alone thinking about what will happen in the future.

He exited into the hallway, expecting to find Eren there, and he felt a little odd when he found the hall empty and no Eren in sight. He stood for a moment, wiped his sweaty forehead with his shirt as his breathing began to slow, and bent over the water fountain and started to drink.

"Boo!"

"-fuck!" Levi spluttered and fell back onto his butt, water dripping down his mouth as he coughed, looking up after a moment, "Eren! What the hell?"

"Oh my-" Eren was in hysterics, laughing so hard he wasn't making noise, his cheeks turning a deep red colour, almost purple, "I'm just- I'm getting you back for that morning...awhile back.." He chokes out slowly, and isn't ready for when Levi gets up and mutters something along the lines of 'I'm going to kill you'.

He starts running, Levi chasing after him until he catches him in a secluded hallway- far enough from the gym. He pushes him against the lockers, and Eren is still laughing. Levi huffs out a small laugh, before he quiets him by kissing him. Eren kisses back instantly, but moves away a second later, laughing still while he says, "You're all sweaty."

"Do you really care?" 

"No."

Eren moves foreword to kiss him, his hand going to card through Levi's hair and he tugs on it, earning a small moan from Levi. Levi's leg wedges in between Eren's and Eren's hand goes around Levi's waist to pull him in closer. Their tongues meet and Eren's body instantly moves inward towards Levi, hands puling on the back of his shirt desperately. 

Eren smiles, first to break the kiss, and leans his forehead against Levi's as he whispers, "My parents are going to be home late tonight again, and Mikasa is out with her friends for a movie- wanna come over?" Levi nods, and Eren kisses him hastily once more, then again, before slipping away underneath his arms.

"Alright, so just tell me when you're on your way- and please shower, you're really sweaty." He winks, and Levi knows Eren is probably just trying to be cute but its really dorky, if anything.

Levi leans against the cold wall, watching as Eren walks backwards, stumbling a little out the door, then waving once more before he's out of sight.

"So..are you two a thing now?"

Levi whips his head up, standing straight, startled from the sound of the voice. Connie's voice.

"..What?" Levi says nervously, not really wanting to hear Connie's response. He really hoped he hadn't seen or heard anything that had just gone on. Levi felt his cheeks heat up at the thought, and he holds his breath as Connie walks towards him.

"Don't be stupid." He says smoothly, throwing an arm around Levi's shoulder, "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Levi shoves him away quickly, before saying, or shouting more like, "We aren't 'together', ok?" He starts walking away and back to the gym, before glancing over his shoulder at Connie and saying, "And whatever you think you saw, you didn't. Because there is nothing going on."

"Levi I didn't mean to-" Connie's hand goes to grab onto Levi's shoulder, but Levi jerks it backwards, almost elbowing him in the face as he does, as he turns to face him, "...upset you." He finishes, his voice squeaking slightly under Levi's stare.

"Nothing is going on." He says, then shoves Connie away, and before he can turn away this time, Connie grabs at the front of Levi's shirt, and he looks livid. Levi's eyes widen, and Connie's eyebrows furrow closer together. He takes a deep breath before he speaks,

"Then what the _fuck_ are you doing, Levi?" He all but spits, speaking through his teeth, "You guys are best friends, and you've already fucked it up once and hated yourself for doing so- and now what- you two just gonna screw around for all eternity and never have any sort of real commitment? Why are you in so much denial?"

"Get off me-" Levi pushes at him but Connie brings his other hand up to hold Levi back, who in this moment, felt very small.

"Stop playing with the poor guy's heart-"

"You don't even know him!"

"I know him well enough to know that he's crazy in love with you!..Although I don't see why, 'cause you're a stupid shit!" Connie says the last part only a little jokingly, releasing Levi from his grip, only to smack him on the back of the head.

Levi stands there, staring blankly at Connie, who eventually, after realizing Levi is having a hard time processing this information, walks away. Levi leans back against the wall, mouth agape slightly as he thinks it over.

Eren is in love with him- and fuck, it makes sense, doesn't it. Eren loves Levi. Levi always thought the little things, like Eren drawing him constantly, joking he's his muse, or even the fact that he forgave him so quickly that it was just because they've been best friends their whole lives. Levi doesn't know if he loves him back- 

"You've _got_ to be _joking_." 

Levi looks to where the voice is coming from, his stomach turning as he sees its Annie, and she looks just about as angry as Connie did moments ago. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title is because I've been listening to twenty one pilots' cover of can't help falling in love and it pretty much got me enough motivation to finish thisssss
> 
> sorry about the wait :( and I'm not sure when the next chap will be up, hopefully soon! !
> 
> ♡xoxoxoooooxoxoxoxoxxo♡

**Author's Note:**

> comments & kudos appreciated, i hope you enjoyed reading <3


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